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“Idiots!”
The land rover bumped along the Shi Wong desert at top speed. In the passenger seat, Korra winced and not at the motion of the vehicle.
“Listen to that engine.” In the driver’s seat, Asami continued her rant. “If you set up your super secret base in the middle of the desert, proper engine maintenance has got to be a priority. There’s sand getting in the works, or I’m an eelhound.”
“Asami…”
“We’ll be lucky to get to their base without it conking out. We probably saved these jerks’ lives by ambushing them. They weren’t carrying enough water with them to walk back if they’d broken down on patrol. One hundred percent, mouth-breathing, spirit-damned idiots!”
Korra glanced over her shoulder at the prisoners trussed up in the back seat. One of them was looking a bit green, but since he hadn’t taken any blows to the head she was willing to put that down to motion sickness. “Asami, can we not talk about the engine for a moment?” She took a deep breath. “You’re annoyed with me. It never works well when one of us is annoyed and doesn’t talk about it.”
Asami jerked her head toward the back seat. “They’re Red Lotus.”
Korra sighed. And there it is. “Yes. Yes, they are.”
“They’re Red Lotus, you knew it all along, and you didn’t tell me.”
“Yes they are, yes I did, no I didn’t, and I’m sorry. I should have told you when I knew.” Asami humphed, clearly only partly mollified. “Not justifying my decision,” Korra said, “but you’ve got to admit, you’re not exactly rational when it comes to the Red Lotus.”
“Rational? You want me to be rational? Are we talking about the same jolly lot who decided to poison the woman I love? The fact that they didn’t know that’s what you were is beside the point. No, I’m not rational about them, and I don’t want to be.”
Korra couldn’t help feeling a little flutter in her heart at these words. Focus, she told herself. “To be fair, these guys are too young to have been members of the Red Lotus back then.”
“No. They spent their formative years in the chaos following the assassination of the Earth Queen and then decided joining the organization responsible for the whole mess was a good idea. Wow, you’re right. I feel so much better about them now. And while we’re on the subject, you were a lot rougher on your dance partner than I was on the other two.”
“He was the one who wanted to kill you when they all just thought you were an unlucky traveler lost in the desert. People don’t get to do that to you.” Korra sighed again. “Yes, I’m aware of the hypocrisy.”
“Apology accepted.” They drove on for a while. “You’re pretty wonderful,” Asami broke the silence suddenly. “You do know that, don’t you?”
Korra looked down and smiled. “I’m thankful that you think so. Though you’re not exactly rational when it comes to me either.” She shot a sideways glance up at her wife.
Asami kept her eyes on the landscape in front of her, but her face broke out in a grin. “I’m OK with that.” She started to laugh. “You should have seen the looks on their faces when you burst up out of the sand with fire in your eyes. The memory of that is going to keep me warm at night for years to come.”
“I thought I was the one who was going to keep you warm at night for years to come?”
“Do we have to listen to this?” came a voice from the back seat.
“I’m sorry,” Asami said sweetly. “Did we give you the impression that either of us care what you want? That was careless of us.” She paused, but there was no answer. “I am, of course, talking about those occasions when you are off saving the world and don’t bring me along,” she continued as if there had been no interruption.
“I’m trying to cut back on those. I mean the whole leaving to ‘save the world’ thing. I’m not hoping to increase the number of times I drag you along into danger.” Korra folded her arms and scowled. “All that hitting first and asking questions later of my younger days is coming back to bite me. People get really resistant when they ask me to solve their problems and I say ‘Have you tried talking it over first?’”
“They might be resistant to that even if you’d established that as a precedent from day one, Precious. And then there are times when talking it over really isn’t an option.” Asami took her eyes off the terrain in front of them long enough to shoot a glare toward the backseat.
“Speaking of which, secret base in view,” Korra said pointing.
“Oh the joy.”
“Ha!” said one of their prisoners. “You’ll never get in. The gates are platinum.”
Korra peered ahead. “I admit it’s hard to tell at this distance, but the walls look like regular stone.”
There was an awkward pause from the backseat, broken by a weak voice that said, “The walls are regular stone.” Korra looked over her shoulder. The other two were glaring at the boy with motion sickness. “Well, they are,” he said defensively. “It’s not like they weren’t going to figure it out.”
“I’m going to be charitable,” Asami said, “and assume that the plan was to make the whole outer wall from platinum and they just didn’t have the budget. The alternative is just too depressing.”
“Also that level of stupidity would be a best case scenario for us,” Korra said. “We don’t want to get complacent. What do you think? Should I punch us through the wall or liquefy the stone holding the hinges so the gates just fall over?”
There was a pause. “Or they might just open the gates for us because they recognize the vehicle,” Asami said.
Korra stared out the windshield, her jaw hanging open in disbelief. “These guys are really making it difficult to not get complacent,” she said at last.
“We can assume its a cunning trap, if it will keep you on your toes,” Asami said.
“Cunning trap. Yes, I can work with that.” They drove through the open gateway. “Pull up between those two trucks,”Korra said, pointing. “It will give us a moment of cover.” Asami complied and cut the engine. No one approached them.
“Even if they don’t suspect a thing, they’ll know we’re a problem as soon as we climb out of the vehicle,” Asami said. “It’s not a huge complex, but we’re going to have to figure out where they’re hiding the bomb.”
“The bomb?” came a shocked voice from the back seat. Korra and Asami both turned to look at their passengers. Both the carsick boy and the woman next to him looked aghast. Only the guy who had wanted to kill Asami was still glaring at them defiantly. He also didn’t look very surprised.
“Yes, the bomb,” Asami said. “Why? What did they tell you they were building here?”
“It’s supposed to take out the equipment of the Earth King’s army,” the woman said vaguely.
“Well, yes, I suppose technically it will do that. It will also take out the soldiers and everything and everyone else in the vicinity. The vicinity being something like a three mile radius.”
“Also, it’s not the Earth King’s army,” Korra said, “since there isn’t actually an Earth King what with the dissolution of the monarchy and all that.”
The guy who was still looking defiant (and who had wanted to kill Asami; Korra wasn’t about to forget that detail) rallied to say, “That’s what you want people to think. But we know the so-called elected government is just the King’s puppets.”
“I think if Wu were really secretly in charge of this country, he’d give himself a larger exfoliation budget.”
“You joke at a time like this!”
“Not really,” Asami said. “He’s settled down a lot in the past few years, and he’s a surprisingly good mediator in his own right, but the man does still love his spa days.” She turned in her seat. “No joke, does he get on your nerves sometimes?” She pointed at the belligerent one, addressing her remarks to the other two. The woman looked embarrassed and the motion sick kid actually nodded slightly. “So since we can all agree on that much, maybe we can agree that a bomb designed to kill thousands of people in one go isn’t a great thing, and you should tell us where to find it so we can dismantle it and make sure that doesn’t happen.”
That seemed a rather optimistic leap to Korra, but the two exchanged a glance and the woman said “It’s in the small building at the northwest corner of the compound.”
“Traitor!”
“Oh, put a sock in it,” the carsick kid muttered.
“What do you think,” Asami said to Korra. “Trust them?”
“I don’t think laughing boy has the presence of mind to pull a double bluff if they were steering us wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter. The Red Lotus will stop you. And then they’ll free me and we’ll take care of these two traitors.”
“I suppose as a precaution, we should let these two go,” Asami said with a sigh.
Korra nodded. “Not that we intend to be stopped by your friends, mind you,” she told the belligerent one.
Asami pulled out a pocket knife, leaned over the back seat and cut the cords holding the pair of friendlier Red Lotus members. “Don’t make me regret this.” They both nodded, looking somewhat stunned. She turned back to Korra. “So how do we do this.”
“Well, they really seem to be ignoring us. I say we climb out quietly. I earthbend us an underground passage and we make a straight dash to the building and come up through the floor. The earthbenders in the compound will notice, but we should be able to get inside to a defensible location instead of having to fight our way across.”
“I’ll cry out the moment you open the door!” Scowls declared. The woman sitting next to him slugged him hard in the jaw, and he lost interest in the proceedings for a while.
“Why in the name of sanity would you warn someone of something like that?” Korra muttered. “Ready, Sweetest?”
“Ready, Precious.” Asami answered.
They both opened their doors and slipped out of the vehicle, keeping low. They met at the front of the car. Korra turned to face the right general direction of the building they were told the bomb was in. Asami stood behind her an laid a hand on her shoulder. Korra took a deep breath and made a parting gesture with her hands. The ground opened up beneath them, drawing them down in a small bubble of air. She pushed forward opening up a tunnel in front of them and they ran as fast as they could. She felt through the earth above them, trying to sense the buildings of the compound. “I think we’re here,” she said coming to a stop. “Going up.”
She pushed up, and a column of earth drove them up above the surface again. They came out in a building the size of a large garage, just a few paces away from a large complex looking device, matching the description of the bomb from the intelligence reports.
“You’re amazing,” Asami said, fondly, giving Korra a squeeze on the shoulder before running over to the bomb. Outside the building, Korra could hear shouts coming closer. As she’d expected, their underground run hadn’t gone undetected. “Keep them at bay, will you Precious, while I make this thing safe?” Asami said, already starting to unbolt a panel.
“Anything for you Sweetest.”
The first thing she did was to metalbend the doors shut. Not a moment too soon, as it happened, because shortly after the big doors rattled and voices outside cursed. There were almost certainly earthbenders in the complex, very likely including metalbenders. She couldn’t count on the doors staying shut. She also stomped the ground to check for signs of anyone trying to tunnel in. The smart play for their opponents would be to come at them from multiple routes. If the patrol was anything to go by, this group was young and inexperienced, but it would be rash to depend on that.
At least one metal bender had finally arrived outside the door and was trying to undo the jam Korra had created. A better strategy would be to just strip the doors to pieces, but maybe they didn’t want to damage the building. Korra firmed up her stance and fought back. She risked splitting her attention long enough to stamp out another echo pulse. No activity, but there was something she hadn’t noticed with her first check. She reached out with her other senses and laughed.
“What’s the joke?” Asami asked from behind the bomb.
“Guess what’s buried next to this shed.”
“No idea. Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Well, I hope for their sake that its the cistern for their drinking water. Because if it’s a septic tank, they’re about to be extremely unhappy with me.”
“Pissed off, as it were,” Asami said sweetly.
“Argh. Why didn’t I think of that one?”
There was a cry of triumph outside as she exited her earthbending stance and shifted into a waterbending form. The door started to creak open, but Korra was rewarded with the sound of rushing water accompanied by cries of dismay from their attackers. She shut the doors again.
“Smells like it was the cistern after all,” Asami commented.
“Thank heavens. They’ll get through that door eventually, and the ventilation in here is not that great. How’s it going over there?”
“Outer panel is off. Checking for booby traps.”
“In other words, don’t rush you?”
“Any time you can buy me will be greatly appreciated, Precious. I have every confidence in you.”
“Flattery will definitely get you somewhere.”
“I’m counting on it,” Asami said suggestively.
“Down, girl,” Korra said reluctantly. “It looks like it’s time for round two.”
The metal benders outside had finally decided to pull the doors apart. Korra resisted for a time, letting them put more and more effort in. Then she abruptly let go. The door transformed into about a dozen metal plates and a good number of loose rivets all hurtling outward, to the audible dismay of the gathered attackers.
The Red Lotus troops came at her in ones and twos, like the disposable minions in a bad mover. Although in this case, the motivation was probably that they had to psych themselves up to confront her. And while she kept her mind on the fight, a stray thought kept nagging at her.
“You know what?” Korra said, blocking a flame blast with an ice shield, “Let’s do it. Let’s adopt a kid.”
“Are we having this conversation now?” Asami asked.
“Am I distracting you?”
“I can divide my attention if you can. But what I mean is are we having this specific conversation right now?”
“It was originally your idea.”
“And if you are truly on board, I’m ecstatic. But you shouldn’t make life changing decisions when you’re hopped up on adrenalin. I’m just saying.”
“I’m always hopped up on something when you’re around.”
“Down, girl.”
“Are they ignoring us?” someone asked from the crowd of Red Lotus foot soldiers.
Korra punch a rock that had been aimed at her head. It exploded into fragments and several of her opponents had to duck for cover. “Would that we could, my friend. Would that we could.”
“Your mockery will be your downfall!” another called from the safety of the back of the crowd.
“Oh, good,” Asami muttered. “Another one.”
“Even if you should succeed today,” the voice continued, “We will have our revenge. On you. On your families! Even this child you speak of.” Several of their attackers did not look like they were on board with this line of reasoning.
“Oh, no,” Asami said in a monotone. “Not our families. Not our currently still hypothetical child. Whatever shall we do?”
“She’s saying that this is not exactly a farm fresh threat,” Korra said helpfully. “Also, blurting out your evil plan isn’t the best strategy. But feel free to keep on doing so.”
“You’re talking about adoption plans in front of us,” came a new voice from the crowd, sounding distinctly confused.
“Ah,” Korra said, “but we are ‘public figures.’”
“That means people pay attention to the breakfast cereal we buy,” Asami elaborated.
“It makes no sense, and we wish that they wouldn’t,” Korra observed.
“But it does mean,” Asami concluded, “that if a small human being joins our household, there is no conceivable way it will be a secret.”
“So, yes,” Korra said, “we are talking about this in front of you. I didn’t realize it would annoy you when I started; that’s just a pleasant bonus.”
“Done!” Asami called out from behind the bomb. Korra glanced over her shoulder to see Asami emerge from behind the device dusting her hands. “Need a hand?”
Korra grinned, “I always enjoy seeing you in action. However, we seem to have stunned them into immobility with are domestic situation.” There were some embarrassed glances exchanged by the no longer attacking attackers.
“So I see,” Asami said, stepping up beside her and pulling her shock glove on. “But it’s unlikely to last, so we might still have a good rumble.”
“Your overconfidence will be your undoing!” It was the same man who had threatened them earlier. Apparently, he had a go-to formula for defiant remarks.
“That’s the spirit!” Asami said. The shock glove gave an ominous hum, and several people at the front of the crowd of attackers tried to take a step back.
“Whatever you did to the device, we can undo,” he continued, but with considerably less force.
“The device?” Korra asked. “You mean the bomb?” A dismayed murmur ran through the crowd. So many of these kids had no idea what they were signing on for, she thought grimly.
“You might be right if we hadn’t come prepared,” Asami said. “Spirit vine technology. Very nasty. Just removing the vine from your bomb isn’t much of a blow. I imagine you have more cuttings hidden away somewhere.”
“But we’ve come to know the entity the vines come from.”
“And they don’t like bits being cut off them and being used to hurt people.”
Korra grinned. “But since all the bits are spiritually connected, all you have to do to revive a particular bit…”
“…Is provide a little nourishment.” Asami pulled a couple of now-empty vials from her belt and waggled them before the onlookers. “A little water and a little soil, both straight from the Spirit Realm”
The earth tremors started so precisely after Asami’s last remark that Korra wondered if the vine spirit had been waiting for a straight line. She had to raise her voice above both the rattling and the sudden panic. “You probably won’t have much of a base left shortly.”
At that, a giant blossom burst up through the floor and closed protectively around Korra and Asami. They clung together laughing as they felt the blossom accelerate upward through the roof of the shed. “You were waiting for the perfect dramatic moment, weren’t you?” Korra crowed. She felt a wave of smugness wash over her in response.
The blossom stopped and unfolded when it had grown several yards above the highest building in the compound. Korra and Asami sat down on the petals to watch the vines slowly dismantle the Red Lotus base.
Korra shaded her eyes and looked toward an approaching cloud of dust out in the desert. “Looks like the Earth Federation troops are already on the way. I wonder if the two kids you cut loose decided to call the good guys for help.”
Asami draped an arm over Korra’s shoulder. “I will concede that those two were probably all right. Probably most of those kids are. Just angry and gullible.”
“We can help make sure that the rank and file are shown mercy. And that legitimate grievances don’t get swept under the rug.”
After a brief pause, Asami said “So… You’re possibly interested in adopting?”
“Definitely,” Korra said. “I promise it’s not just the adrenaline.”
“Can I ask what changed your mind?”
“I dunno. I guess I was kind of wondering about what sort of life those kids down there had seen. And I thought, I have a chance to help give at least one person love and stability that they might not get otherwise. Would I be OK with myself if I didn’t do it because it scares me?”
“Ah. Well, you know, it frightens me too. In a lot of important ways, it’s going to be the biggest thing either of us has ever committed to.”
“Well, you’ve never struck me like the sort to let fear stop you.”
Asami raised an eyebrow. “You say that as if you are. I know better.”
Korra breathed out a laugh. “I’ve come really close. Lots of times.”
Asami gave her a squeeze. “I think everyone does. It’s easy to look fearless when people can’t see how close you were to not getting back up.”
Korra’s next laugh was more genuine. “Mind if I steal that one? It might come in handy sometime in the next several years.”